


Speech 101

by bloodroots



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: (only tagging age play so people can find this if they don’t know the difference), Age Regression/De-Aging, Anxiety, Belly Rubs, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play, appa yunho, bc again i can’t write anything that doesn’t have my boys crying, fuck speech tbh i hate that class, i think that’s it lemme know if i missed one, jongho/yunho is real tho, like anxiety about public speaking, little jongho, sorry this is short i couldn’t sleep and decided this was a good idea, speech anxiety, the jongho/everyone tag is platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23695948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodroots/pseuds/bloodroots
Summary: “i thought i heard you come in. how did your speech go, honey?” yunho asked excitedly, ready to hear all the details of how his boyfriend had nailed the speech he had worked and worried over for so long.jongho’s chin fell to his chest, roughly pushing his bag off his shoulder and slowly sinking to the ground; his bottom lip wobbling as he sniffled. yunho held onto his hands to ease him to the floor with an “okay, okay, baby”. it took two tugs to get yunho to kneel down on the floor with him and another one to get the older tosit down fully, jongho crawling to sit sideways in his lap so he could be held as sobs pushed their way past his lips.ORjongho decides to take a public speaking course his first year of college so he can get it out of the way. the only problem is he has a really bad fear of public speaking so his first speech doesn’t go so well.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Everyone, Choi Jongho/Jeong Yunho
Comments: 7
Kudos: 112





	Speech 101

**Author's Note:**

> where i live, college requires you to take a speech class before you can graduate with any sort of degree. i have an intense fear of public speaking so i focused all of my anxious energy into writing about jongho suffering for me. sorry, baby :-(
> 
> THIS IS IN NO WAY SEXUAL! I DO NOT CONDONE THE SEXUALISATION OF LITTLES OR AGE REGRESSORS! DO NOT GET ON MY DICK ABOUT THIS! IN THIS WORK OF FICTION THEY ARE BOTH CONSENTING ADULTS SO SHUSH! THANK YOU KINDLY

jongho unlocked the front door with his key and pushed it open, closing the door behind him but not moving further than the doormat. yunho came around the corner at the sound of the door opening, drying his hands off on a dish rag and tossing it on his shoulder. 

“i thought i heard you come in. how did your speech go, honey?” yunho asked excitedly, ready to hear all the details of how his boyfriend had nailed the speech he had worked and worried over for so long. 

jongho’s chin fell to his chest, roughly pushing his bag off his shoulder and slowly sinking to the ground; his bottom lip wobbling as he sniffled. yunho held onto his hands to ease him to the floor with an “ _ okay, okay, baby _ ”. it took two tugs to get yunho to kneel down on the floor with him and another one to get the older to  sit down fully, jongho crawling to sit sideways in his lap so he could be held as sobs pushed their way past his lips. 

“oh, my poor baby.” yunho cooed, an arm around jongho’s waist and a hand pressing the younger’s face into his neck, petting his hair. he felt hot tears slide down his skin and melt into his shirt but didn’t dare try and wipe them away, holding onto jongho as tightly as he could. 

“speech-speech bad, _so so bad_. i messed up a lot and my ‘fessor took off points an’ i was so scared, ‘pa” jongho whimpered, his fingers digging into his arms as his anxiety started to climb again just thinking about it. 

it took yunho a second to switch his headspace from loving boyfriend to loving caregiver (jongie hadn’t come out for a while) but when he did his arms twisted the boy in his lap so they were chest to chest, jongho’s arms were moved to wrap around the older’s neck to keep him from scratching himself. yunho’s hand rubbed his baby’s back up and down rhythmically while the other continued to press his face into his neck. jongho had always talked about how nice and calming yunho’s cologne and natural scent was and knew getting the boy close to his skin would give him that. 

“angel, i’m so sorry your speech didn’t go the way you wanted it to. i know you worked so hard on it. But you got through it! you were my brave little boy and did your speech even though you were scared! so what if that mean old professor takes a few points? i heard your speech and i know that you’re still gonna get an amazing grade, okay?” yunho said confidently, pressing kisses to the side of jongho’s head. jongho whimpered and rubbed his face against yunho’s neck, spreading the wetness of his tears around a little; not that yunho cared about that when his baby was so distraught. 

jongho had always struggled with speaking in front of people he didn’t know, especially if it was a group. yunho still remembers having to calm his boyfriend down from a panic attack the day he’d introduced jongho to his friends, completely forgetting that six people loudly interacting with him at one time might’ve been a little intense. he still feels a little bad about that day, they all do. 

“it was your first speech and i know for a **fact** you did well, even if there were a few bumps. everyone messes up their first speech in college, baby.”

jongho tilted his head a little so he could be heard clearly, his fingers still tightly gripping yunho’s shirt. 

“e-even ap-appa?” he asked in such a small voice that yunho felt his chest constrict painfully. 

yunho absolutely hated the education system for making speech a mandatory course for college students to take, forcing some of them to confront their biggest fears and suffer weeks of anxiety just so they wouldn’t fail. it made his blood boil every time he saw jongho standing in front of the bathroom mirror with smudged notecards in his shaking hands, tears pouring down his ruddy cheeks as he tried over and over to practise what he would say. he knew the professor was just teaching what the school told them to, but _christ_ , did yunho hope he never saw them out in public alone. 

“of course, baby! even appa! appa had to do a _bunch_ of speeches back when he was in speech and he messed up _aaaaaalllll_ the time. wooyoung-ah has a lot of stories of me messing up.” yunho said, his chest loosening when he felt jongho’s breathing starting to even out. 

“but-but appa’s good a’ _everything_.” jongho said, pout evident in his voice. yunho chuckled softly, kissing his temple again. 

“ _almost_ everything, honey. y’know who else used to mess up their speeches?” 

jongho shook his head. 

“sangie.” 

jongho gasped, pushing himself back so he could look at his appa. yunho had just as a surprised expression on his face as jongho tried to comprehend what he had said. 

“even sangie hyung?! but he _never_ messes up! he’s like-like the goodest talker _ever_!” jongho says in disbelief, his mouth half open in shock. yunho coos again and squishes his cheeks with his hands. 

“even sangie hyung, baby. he used to get nervous just like you and mess up his speeches a lot. but we would help him practise and soon he got really good at talking to other people.” yunho explained, hands settling on jongho’s waist. 

jongho’s mouth was set in a straight line and his eyebrows furrowed together (his thinking face) as he tried to even picture sangie hyung being bad at talking to other people like he was. sangie hyung talked to people all the time! and he was so confident! jongho pouted again sadly. yunho reaches up and lifted jongho’s chin with a finger. 

“why the pout, angel?” 

“wanna be like you an’-an’ sangie hyung but ‘m too dumb.” 

“no, none of that. you are not dumb, jongho. you are smart and amazing and capable of anything, you just need to practise, honey, that’s all. don’t ever let me hear you calling yourself dumb again, understood?” yunho asked, his stern tone making jongho’s eyes mist over again but he nodded nonetheless. 

“that’s a good boy. now, who’s appa’s smart baby, hmm? who’s my genius little boy?” yunho teased, wiggling his fingers against jongho’s stomach and ribs to get him to laugh. 

jongho shrieked and tried to squirm away, begging his appa to stop tickling him between peels of laughter from both him and yunho. yunho held strong, his hands following jongho to the floor when the younger flopped out of his lap to escape the tickle torture. 

“ _me_! i’m appa’s smart boy! no-no more! no more, appa!” jongho squealed, pushing yunho’s hands away. yunho laughed again, pulling his hands away. he leaned down and blew a raspberry against jongho’s stomach and he got even more shrieking giggles, the laughter warming his heart and breaking his face into a wide grin. 

yunho stood up and brought jongho into his arms, picking him up and settling his legs around his waist. jongho was panting from all the laughter, smiling widely up at his appa, his head laid against his shoulder. yunho kissed his forehead. 

“that’s right, sweetheart, you’re appa’s smart boy. you’re so good, baby, always so good for me. let’s go get you ready for a nap, okay?” jongho nodded softly against him, his eyes already getting glossy like they did when he started to slip a little further. 

yunho toted his baby to their bedroom, laying him on the bed while he went to grab a shirt and some shorts from his side of the dresser. it took some convincing to get jongho to cooperate but soon yunho had jongho changed into more comfortable clothes and tucked under his arm under the covers. jongho had slipped further and further into his cloudy headspace, babbling happily to yunho as the younger played with his appa’s fingers. 

“i love you so much, lovebug, and i’m _so_ proud of you for getting through today even though it was difficult for you. when we wake up from our nap we’ll have your favourite for dinner. and maybe the hyungs can come visit, too.” yunho whispered, his hand coming down to rub jongho’s tummy. 

jongho didn’t understand anything his appa was saying but at the mention of his hyungs he clapped tiredly, kicking his feet under the blankets. yunho chuckled and kissed his cheek a few times, pulling his baby closer and continuing to rub his tummy in slow up and downs. jongho felt his eyelids starting to fall at the feeling of his appa’s warm hand on his belly, making him yawn and snuggle into yunho’s side. 

“sweet dreams, baby.” yunho said softly, his own eyes closing as the warm puffs of air hitting his neck lulled him to sleep as well. 

_(jongho ended up waking up after his nap a little older than he was before he went to sleep but just as needy for yunho, especially after the day he’d had._

_all of his hyungs ended up over for dinner, all cooing and hugging him close when yunho quietly explained why he’d slipped for the first time in a few months._

_ jongho got to sit in everyone’s lap at least once, all his hyungs taking turns feeding him from their plates until his appa pointed out that he’d barely touched his own food. jongho was sheepishly put back into his own chair, that not lasting long as he soon got up and sat in his appa’s lap instead.  _

_ a few days later when jongho was big again, yeosang reached out and offered to help him practise for his next speech, helping him break it down into parts so it was easier to organise and plan. and when he ended up getting a 96 out of 100, the hyungs all took him out for ice cream to celebrate.  _

_ he still struggled a lot with speech anxiety but having the people he loved helping him along the way let him know that even if he was scared of messing up, he’d always have seven hyungs to get him through it.) _

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for getting this far ! i know this was random and short but hopefully when i get some more free time i can work on continuing some things on here. 
> 
> love you, 
> 
> -A


End file.
